County considering more partners for emergency services HQ

Published: Monday, August 4, 2014 at 10:10 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, August 4, 2014 at 10:10 p.m.

County commissioners Monday urged county staff to continue exploring a shared emergency services facility that a consultant estimated could cost around $8.4 million, excluding land acquisition.

A “space needs assessment” by Solutions for Local Government showed the county's cramped EMS, emergency management and rescue squad personnel need about 42,353 net square feet for operations, storage, training and vehicles.

By sharing space such as kitchens, garages and utility rooms, the consultants concluded the three departments could shave off 4,353 net square feet compared to building three facilities, saving money and construction time.

Following the board's July discussion of space needs, County Manager Steve Wyatt said he met with Blue Ridge Community College President Molly Parkhill “and talked about the potential to do something pretty unique” – to bring college-level training and certification programs from BRCC into a shared emergency services environment.

“It's a pretty exciting concept, when you think about it,” Wyatt said. Not only would it free up space at BRCC for other uses, he said, it would be a great recruitment tool for the college and “also give our people the opportunity to pick the best students out of the program, if they're interacting with them on a regular basis.”

Wyatt said he also discussed the potential of consolidating emergency services into one facility with Jay Kirby, CEO of Pardee Hospital. Kirby “has indicated that he would like to be part of the process to look to see if there are some potential partnerships” there as well, Wyatt said.

With Pardee needing the space currently occupied by the county's EMS hub, and the Henderson County Rescue Squad pressed for space, board Vice Chair Tommy Thompson said “emergency services in Henderson County definitely needs this… The thing that concerns me more than anything else is the cost, and we've got to make sure that we can handle that.”

Commissioner Grady Hawkins said the county needs to develop a comprehensive plan to “take care of these needs,” along with other capital projects in the works such as school renovations and the joint health education facility that the county launched this year in partnership with the city of Hendersonville, Pardee, BRCC and Wingate University.

He said bringing BRCC into the mix on a shared emergency services HQ “sure looks nice. It's a good tradeoff for the taxpayer, as far as purchasing land, but I think one of the considerations that we need to look at is, is it located so that we can make the timely responses that EMS (and the Rescue Squad) need to make, or if they need to maintain their auxiliary locations they have now to smooth that out?”

Commissioner Larry Young warned that indications are interest rates will rise by early 2015, so “if you're going to borrow money, you need to do it in the next six months.”

Wyatt said county staff would meet more with BRCC and Pardee officials, as well as other potential partners, and bring back a progress report for commissioners within 30 to 45 days.

<p>County commissioners Monday urged county staff to continue exploring a shared emergency services facility that a consultant estimated could cost around $8.4 million, excluding land acquisition.</p><p>A “space needs assessment” by Solutions for Local Government showed the county's cramped EMS, emergency management and rescue squad personnel need about 42,353 net square feet for operations, storage, training and vehicles.</p><p>By sharing space such as kitchens, garages and utility rooms, the consultants concluded the three departments could shave off 4,353 net square feet compared to building three facilities, saving money and construction time.</p><p>Following the board's July discussion of space needs, County Manager Steve Wyatt said he met with Blue Ridge Community College President Molly Parkhill “and talked about the potential to do something pretty unique” – to bring college-level training and certification programs from BRCC into a shared emergency services environment.</p><p>“It's a pretty exciting concept, when you think about it,” Wyatt said. Not only would it free up space at BRCC for other uses, he said, it would be a great recruitment tool for the college and “also give our people the opportunity to pick the best students out of the program, if they're interacting with them on a regular basis.”</p><p>Wyatt said he also discussed the potential of consolidating emergency services into one facility with Jay Kirby, CEO of Pardee Hospital. Kirby “has indicated that he would like to be part of the process to look to see if there are some potential partnerships” there as well, Wyatt said.</p><p>With Pardee needing the space currently occupied by the county's EMS hub, and the Henderson County Rescue Squad pressed for space, board Vice Chair Tommy Thompson said “emergency services in Henderson County definitely needs this… The thing that concerns me more than anything else is the cost, and we've got to make sure that we can handle that.”</p><p>Commissioner Grady Hawkins said the county needs to develop a comprehensive plan to “take care of these needs,” along with other capital projects in the works such as school renovations and the joint health education facility that the county launched this year in partnership with the city of Hendersonville, Pardee, BRCC and Wingate University.</p><p>He said bringing BRCC into the mix on a shared emergency services HQ “sure looks nice. It's a good tradeoff for the taxpayer, as far as purchasing land, but I think one of the considerations that we need to look at is, is it located so that we can make the timely responses that EMS (and the Rescue Squad) need to make, or if they need to maintain their auxiliary locations they have now to smooth that out?”</p><p>Commissioner Larry Young warned that indications are interest rates will rise by early 2015, so “if you're going to borrow money, you need to do it in the next six months.”</p><p>Wyatt said county staff would meet more with BRCC and Pardee officials, as well as other potential partners, and bring back a progress report for commissioners within 30 to 45 days.</p><p>___</p><p>Reach Axtell at than.axtell@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7860.</p>